Micah Howard has been on my “to interview” list for years.  As a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, Micah has had a huge influence on countless bass players (including my good friend Christian Dillingham!).  I actually just found a note from 2008 that said “interview Micah Howard” - that’s how long I’ve been hoping to do this!

 

A few weeks ago, I wrote him an email asking to schedule an interview, only to find that he had emailed me that exact same day to ask if I’d be up for being a clinician at the next Pittsburgh Bass Symposium.  We must have been on the same wavelength that day without realizing it!

 

Micah and I dig into a ton of topics:

• Micah’s journey through the music world
• What he learned through his four Pittsburgh Symphony auditions
• The experience of serving on the PSO core audition committee
• Mindset shifts between preliminary rounds and later rounds
• What non-bassists hear when they listen to bassists
• Negotiating committees, lockouts, and other things you don’t think about when you’re in music school
• Advice for Micah’s younger self

 

This is a great conversation with a person who gives so much to the bass community, and I know you’ll love it!

 

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D'Addario Strings

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

 

Contrabass Conversations production team:

• Jason Heath, host
• Michael Cooper and Steve Hinchey, audio editing
• Mitch Moehring, audio engineer
• Trevor Jones, publication and promotion
• Krista Kopper, cataloging and archiving

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